Minuteman chief part of suit over tax-relief mailing

The president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is involved in a mailing about property taxes that federal investigators and prosecutors in three states are calling a fraud.

Carmen Mercer of Tombstone owns the post-office box where thousands of Arizona residents are being asked by a company to send money in order to recover overpaid property taxes.

In an interview Wednesday, Mercer denied being a part of Property Tax Review Board Inc. and claimed that she was wrongly named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Attorney General's Office. She said she was targeted because of her Minuteman ties.

"We have fought other battles before where the government has targeted us," Mercer said. "We believe in the rule of law. We always fight for the rule of law."

Mercer said she opened the post-office box at the request of a friend, whom she would identify only as a lawyer.

"I just did a favor for a colleague of mine," Mercer said, adding that the decision was personal and had nothing to do with the Minuteman group.

Mercer, who is longtime friends with Minuteman founder Chris Simcox, took over as president of the self-appointed civilian border-patrol group this year.

Mercer said she is working with the Attorney General's Office to remove her name from the lawsuit.

A spokesman for Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard denied Mercer was named in the suit because of her Minuteman tie. He also disagreed that she did nothing wrong or that Mercer's name would likely be removed from the suit.

"Ms. Mercer must have a very vivid imagination," Steve Wilson said.

Goddard filed suit this month against Mercer and the president and chief executive officer of Property Tax Review Board Inc., in Granada Hills, Calif., which sent letters to Arizona homeowners offering to recover thousands of dollars in overpaid property taxes for a $189 fee.

Mercer said she has cooperated fully with state investigators and has surrendered more than 1,000 replies to the tax offer that were sent to the post- office box.

Wilson confirmed Wednesday that his office was able to recover all of the mailings sent to the post-office box and will return payments to the senders.

The official-looking letter, which comes in an envelope stamped with "property tax information enclosed," offers to analyze your taxes and file an appeal with the county to lower them. It uses publicly available information, such as a parcel number and assessed value, to suggest that the government owes a person more than $1,000 because of decreased home values.

A restraining order filed by Goddard prohibits the defendants from mailing any more advertisements and allows postal authorities to intercept any responses. However, calls to the Property Tax Review Board were still being accepted Wednesday at an 800 number included in the mailer.

Employees of a call center who identified themselves as company representatives encouraged callers to send their $189. They offered to analyze property taxes, file an appeal and, if needed, meet with the county assessor's staff.

However, representatives did not mention that the period to file appeals in Arizona ended in April or that property owners can appeal on their own for free.

The owners of Property Tax Review Board are brothers Michael McConville and Sean McConville. They face civil and criminal charges in California over their business.

The Nevada attorney general also has warned residents about the alleged scam.